The present invention relates in general to methods for introducing new oligosaccharides to glycoproteins, and more specifically, to novel methods for conjugating highly phosphorylated mannopyranosyl oligosaccharide derivatives to glycoproteins to form compounds containing mannose-6-phosphate (M6P) for use in medical methods of treatment, and to the compounds thereby produced.
Carbohydrates on glycoproteins play important biological functions in bio-organisms. Well-characterized examples include the selectin-carbohydrate interaction involved in intercellular cell adhesion and sperm/egg interaction (see, e.g., C. G. Gahmberg et al., 27 APMIS SUPPL. 39 (1992)), and the mannose 6-phosphate (M6P) dependent lysosomal enzyme targeting pathway (see, e.g., S. Kornfeld and I. Mellman, 5 ANNUAL REVIEW OF CELL BIOLOGY 483 (1989)). To facilitate study of the complex functions of carbohydrate structures on glycoproteins, both enzymatic and chemical methods have been developed to remove the carbohydrate glycans from glycoproteins for analysis. A variety of conjugation methods have also been developed to conjugate defined carbohydrates to proteins and then analyze their possible biological functions. The most commonly used conjugation approach involves the use of omega-amino groups of lysine residues. Reactions of amino groups of proteins with compounds such as N-hydroxysuccinimide ester or isothiocyanate derivatives are widely used. Reductive amination, on the other hand, is most commonly used for carbohydrate conjugation to proteins. For example, in the analysis of lysosomal enzyme targeting, coupling of M6P or phosphopentamannose to bovine serum albumin has been achieved through reductive amination (H. Tomoda et al., 213 CARBOHYDR. RES. 37 (1991); T. Baba et al., 177 CARBOHYDR. RES. 163 (1988)), leading to significant insights regarding the M6P receptor binding to lysosomal enzymes through these M6P conjugated glycoproteins. Reductive amination involves covalently linking the reducing ends of oligosaccharides to amino acid residues in proteins containing free amines (such as lysines), to first form unstable Schiff bases which are then reduced by cyanoborohydride to stable imine bonds.
However, these known conjugation methods are limited in that they are not specific in terms of the amino acid residues involved, and require the direct linkage of chemical conjugates or carbohydrates to amino acid residues, which may cause a change in protein conformation and destroy the biological activity of proteins. For example, when antibody IgG is coupled to various chemical conjugates through amino acid groups, the antibody IgG often loses its immunological activity (D. J. O'Shannessy and R. H. Quarles, 7 J. OF APPL. BIOCHEM. 347, (1985); T. I. Ghose et al., 93 METHODS IN ENZYMOLOGY 280 (1983)). In addition, reductive amination requires high pH and a reductive reagent that may also reduce any disulfide bonds in a protein, thus potentially destroying biological activity.
A more specific approach to introduce certain chemical conjugates onto glycoproteins has been described and involves covalent bond formation between carbonyl (aldehyde) groups generated by mild oxidation of carbohydrates with periodate or galactose oxidase (G. Avigad et al., 237 J. BIOL. CHEM. 2736 (1962)) and chemical compounds containing carbonyl-reactive groups. This approach has been used for in vitro attachment of mono- and oligosaccharides to cell surface glycoconjugates of living cells with glycosylhydrazines (M. Tolvanen and C. G. Gahmberg, 261(2) J. BIOL. CHEM. 9546 (1986); C. G. Gahmberg and M. Tolvanen, 230 METHODS IN ENZYMOLOGY 32 (1994)). Other applications include conjugation of biotin or avidin to glycoproteins with biotin-hydrazide or avidin-hydrazide (Bayer et al., 161 ANALYTICAL BIOCHEMISTRY 123 (1987); Bayer et al., 170 ANALYTICAL BIOCHEMISTRY 271 (1988); M. Wilchek and E. A. Bayer, 128 METHODS IN ENZYMOLOGY 429 (1987)), antibody IgG conjugation for immunodetection (O'Shannessy et al., 8 IMMUNOLOGY LETTERS 273 (1984); D. J. O'Shannessy and R. H. Quarles, 7 J. OF APPL. BIOCHEM. 347 (1985)) and cancer immunotherapy (J. Singh Kralovec et al., 29 CANCER IMMUNOLOGY THERAPY 293 (1989); G. R. Braslawsky et al., 33 CANCER IMMUNOLOGY THERAPY 367 (1991)). In these examples, the glycoproteins are treated by mild oxidation with periodate to generate aldehyde groups that then react with hydrazide derivatives. One advantage of this approach for conjugation is that the linkage is through the carbohydrates on the glycoproteins instead of directly involving the protein backbone, thus avoiding inactivation of the glycoproteins' biological activity. Antibodies modified in such a way always retain activity (D. J. O'Shannessy et al., 8 IMMUNOLOGY LETTERS 273 (1984); D. J. O'Shannessy and R. H. Quarles, 7 J. OF APPL. BIOCHEM. 347 (1985)). In addition, both the oxidation and the covalent bond formation steps are nearly quantitative, and reaction conditions are very mild, thus helping retain the biological activity of the proteins. Retention of biological activity is critical when the modified glycoproteins are to be used for therapeutic purposes.
Lysosomal storage disease describes a class of over 40 genetic disorders (see, e.g., Holton, J. B., THE INHERITED METABOLIC DISEASES 205-242 (2nd ed. 1994); Scriver et al., 2 THE METABOLIC BASIS OF INHERITED DISEASE (7th ed. 1995)), each resulting from a deficiency of a particular lysosomal enzyme, usually as a result of genetic mutation. Lysosomal enzymes are required to break down protein, glycolipid and carbohydrate metabolites within the lysosomes of cells. When one or more of these enzymes are defective in affected individuals due to inherited mutations, lysosomes in cells of affected individuals accumulate a subset of undigested substrates, largely liposaccharides and carbohydrates as storage materials that are unable to be digested by the defective enzymes. For example, in Gaucher disease, deficiency of beta-glucocerebrosidase causes the accumulation of glucosylceramide; in Fabry disease, the defective alpha-galactosidase A results in accumulation of globotriaosylceremide; in Pompe disease, lack of acid alpha-glucosidase causes accumulation of glycogen alpha 1-4 linked oligosaccharides and in Tay-Sachs disease, deficiency of beta-N-acetyl-hexosaminidase leads to accumulation of GM2 ganglioside. Clinically, patients with these syndromes show a variety of symptoms associated with the accumulation of these storage material in the lysosomes, which eventually affect the normal function of the cells or tissues that result in dysfunction of organs within the human body. The severity of the disease varies with the residual enzyme activity, in severe cases, death can occur early in life.
Lysosomal enzymes, like other secretory proteins, are synthesized and co-translationally translocated into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum, where post-translational carbohydrate modification occurs. However, while in transit through the Golgi, they are segregated from the other secretory proteins by specifically acquiring the M6P recognition marker generated by the sequential actions of two enzymes. The first enzyme, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine:Lysosomal-enzyme N-Acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase, transfers the N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate to one or more mannose residues on lysosomal enzymes to give rise to phosphodiester intermediates, and the second enzyme, N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphodiester alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase, removes the N-acetylglucosamine from the phosphodiester to expose the M6P. Once the lysosomal enzymes with the M6P recognition marker reach the trans-Golgi-network, they are recognized by two specific receptors, the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor (CI-MPR) and the cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate receptor (CD-MPR). These receptors with their ligands of lysosomal enzymes are sequestered into clathrin-coated vesicles formed on the trans-Golgi network and transported to endosomes, where the lysosomal enzymes are dissociated from the receptors by the low pH in endosomes and eventually delivered to lysosomes. Some of the lysosomal enzymes are secreted, however, they are captured by binding to the CI-MPR on the cell surface and internalized by the AP-2 mediated clathrin-coated vesicles. Thus, the M6P dependent pathway is the main targeting pathway for lysosomal enzymes, though the M6P independent targeting pathways have been proposed for a few lysosomal enzymes and in certain cell types (see Kornfeld and Mellman, supra).
With the complete elucidation of the lysosomal enzyme targeting pathway and the discovery of lysosomal enzyme deficiencies as the primary cause of lysosomal storage diseases, attempts have been made to treat patients having lysosomal storage diseases by intravenous administration of the missing enzyme, i.e., enzyme replacement therapy, where the injected enzymes are expected to be taken up by target cells through receptor-mediated endocytosis and delivered to lysosomes. Animal models and some clinical trials of enzyme replacement therapy have offered positive results. However, for lysosomal diseases other than Gaucher disease, some evidence suggest that enzyme replacement therapy is most effective when the enzyme being administered has M6P, so that the enzymes can be taken up efficiently by the target cells through the cell surface associated CI-MPR-mediated endocytosis. Gaucher disease, caused by the deficiency of beta-glucocerebrosidase, is an exception because beta-glucocerebrosidase is among the few lysosomal enzymes that are targeted by the M6P independent pathway (see Kornfeld and Mellman, supra). Targeting of beta-glucocerebrosidase for Gaucher disease enzyme replacement therapy to macrophage cells is mediated by remodeling its carbohydrate to expose the core mannose, which binds to the mannose receptor on macrophage cell surface.
While enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) appears promising, supplies of the required enzymes are limited. Lysosomal enzymes can, in theory, be isolated from natural sources such as human placenta or other animal tissues. However, large-scale production of sufficient quantities of enzymes for therapeutic administration is difficult. Further, due to the degradation of carbohydrates in lysosomes, enzymes purified from tissues do not contain significant amounts of M6P. Alternative approaches include use of recombinant protein expression systems, facilitated by large-scale cell culture or fermentation. For example, lysosomal enzymes have been expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells (V. A. Ioannou et al., 119(5) J. CELL BIOL. 1137 (1992); E. D. Kakkis et al., 5 PROTEIN EXPRESSION PURIFICATION 225 (1994)), insect cells (Y. Chen et al., 20(2) PROTEIN EXPR. PURIF. 228 (2000)), and in transgenic animals or plants (A. G. Bijvoet et al., 8(12) HUM. MOL. GENET. 2145 (1999)). However, lysosomal enzymes purified from recombinant expression systems are also often not well phosphorylated and the extent of M6P phosphorylation varies considerably with different enzymes. Alpha-galactosidase A expressed in CHO cells contains about 20% of phosphorylated enzymes, but only 5% are bisphosphorylated, which is the high-uptake form (F. Matsuura et al., 8(4) GLYCOBIOLOGY 329 (1998)). Alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase expressed in CHO cells is almost completely lacking M6P phosphorylation (K. Zhao and E. F. Neufeld, 19 PROTEIN EXPR. PURIF. 202 (2000)). In addition, recombinant proteins expressed in plants, insect cells or the methotrophic yeast pichia pastoris do not have any M6P phosphorylation because such cells do not have the M6P targeting pathway.
Lysosomal enzymes lacking in M6P phosphorylation compete poorly for receptor-mediated endocytic uptake by target cells and are thus of limited efficacy in enzyme replacement therapy. More specifically, poorly phosphorylated enzymes are effectively removed by the mannose receptor (M. E. Taylor et al., 252 AM. J. PHYSIOL. E690 (1987)) and asiologlycoprotein receptor in liver (Ashwell and Harford, 51 ANN. REV. BIOCHEM 531 (1982)), which can remove most of any administered lysosomal enzymes within a very short period of time.
Against this background, a strong need exists for improved, efficient approaches to phoshorylate lysosomal enzymes, and particularly for methods to modify lysosomal enzymes with M6P. In addition, a need exists for modifying lysosomal enzymes to a high uptake, bisphosphorylated form. Such modified enzymes would be particularly useful for enhancing the efficacy of enzyme replacement therapy for lysosomal storage disease.